Dispensing package for cellulose tissue sheets



July 6, 1937. K. WANDEL ,0 8

DISPENSING PACKAGE FOR CELLULOSE' TISSUE SHEETS Filed March 22, 1935 Ni ATTOZZAI.

Patented July 6, 1937 UNITED STATES DISPENSING PACKAGE FOR CEILULOSE TISSUE SHEETS Kurt Wandel, New York, N. Y., assignor to The Rieser Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 22, 1935, Serial No. 12,456

1 Claim.

This invention is concerned with a container for soft, fragile. sheet material such as cellulose crepe tissue towels or handkerchiefs of the character widely used as a facial cleansing tissue and with a novel dispensing package consisting of the container and its contents.

' The general character of the package is that the container completely encloses the contents of tissue towels fully protecting them from contamination and from the effects of exposure to light and atmosphere. It also provides means whereby the tissue towels may be removed one by one without disturbing the remainder and with a minimum of strain upon the individual towels.

Another feature of the package is that the towels are so packed in the container that such force as is required to remove individual towels is applied largely in the direction of greatest strength. This, together with the peculiar character of the container already mentioned which reduces the normal resistance to removal, sub stantially eliminates the likelihood of tearing the fragile sheets.

Also the package in modified form is peculiarly suited for showcase display since, if desired, a complete cross-section of the contents may be exposed without opening it or disturbing the functioning of the container as a dispensing device.

30 An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing, of which Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a form of the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a slightly modified 35 form.

As is well known cellulose tissue towels are made from long webs of cellulose tissue. The fibres of such tissue are laid longitudinally and the creping runs transversely. Consequently the 40 tissue possesses considerable tensile strength longitudinally which, in efiect, is increased by its elasticity in the same direction resulting from the creping. Transversely the tensile strength is very small and the elasticity practically nil.

45 However, the longitudinal fold is the one which has been almost universally adopted as the most practical and economical for cellulose tissue towels. As a result when such towels are packed in a container having the customary slot or open- 50 ing which parallels the fold the force required for removal is unavoidably applied transversely or in the direction of least strength. This plus the fact that an edge of one towel is invariably grasped results in tearing of the towel particu- 5 larly in the case of a full package in which the towels are tightly packed. The package and container of this invention is expressly designed for such longitudinally folded towels and substantially eliminates these difficulties.

The terms longitudinally and transversely as employed herein with reference to the towels relate to their -dimension as found in the web from which they are produced 1. e. longitudinally corresponds to the direction in which the fibres are laid and, consequently, to the dimen- 10 sion of greatest natural strength, and transversely" refers to the dimension transverse of the direction of the fibres and to the dimension of least natural strength.

To form the package shown in Figs. 1 and 2 15 the desired number of towels I, each consisting of two or more superposed sheets of tissue preferably attached together along their longitudinal hems 2, are each separately folded longitudinally in such a way that one of the hems 2 lies intermediate the folds and above the rest of the towel where it will be readily seen and inst-inctively grasped.

A stack of towels so folded may be completely enclosed within a close fitting container 3, made preferably of light cardboard and having in its top a tear-out strip 4 if desired.

The tear-out strip 4 may be formed by creating two parallel, broken lines of incisions 5 and 6 terminating in a similar cross line I slightly below the front edge of the container. By running the finger nail or a suitable instrument alonglines 5, 6 and I, strip 4 may be broken away to forms slot or opening 8 through which the towels may be removed. Strip 4 which is still attached to the container along the'back edge may be retained as a closure for the opening 8, or it may be torn off as desired.

As will be seen from Fig. 2 the hems 2 of the enclosed towels intersect opening 8 instead of 40 paralleling it as is usually the case.

To remove a towel from the package it is grasped by the hem 2 and pulled upwardly, the portions lying'under the top portions 9 and ID of the container slipping progressively towards I opening 8. The strain upon the towel will consequently be largely longitudinal or in its direction of greatest strength and elasticity, which is ample to resist tearing. Also the hem 2, which consists of the two or more sheets of which the towel is composed pressed together, possesses considerable strength and serves to distribute whatever transverse strain may occur over a sumcient area of the towel to fully protect it against tearing inthat direction.

It will be noted that the tear-out strip 4 runs across the top of the container from back to front in a diagonal direction. The advantage of the diagonal opening is that when the towel is 5 removed it moves in an angular direction with respect to the edges of the opening and tends to slide along them, which greatly reduces the frictional resistance.

A slightly modified form of the invention,

10 shown in Fig. 2, is particularly adapted for display purposes. In this the diagonal opening 8 on the top of the container opens into an opening ll extending to the bottom and the closing flap is dispensed with. This package is wrapped 15 in Cellophane I2 or some other material so that the contents is observable through the top and also the front. When this packageincludes towels of several harmonious pastel shades, an extremely attractive effect is secured.

20 Also the opening ll enables the towels to be removed easily from the container when the level thereof has sunk considerably below the top. This is particularly true in relation to deep boxes containing five hundred or more towels. Without it the opening in the top might have to be made undesirably wide to permit easy insertion of the hand and, in any event, the contact of the hand or wrist with the sharp edge of the opening is unpleasant and possibly dangerous.

, I claim:

A dispensing package consisting of a container having an opening extending diagonally across its top intermediate its ends, and continuing down the front, a plurality of cellulose tissue sheets within said container so positioned that one edge intersects said top opening between the front and back edges of the top, the disposition of said top opening being such as to leave the tissues fully covered by the top for substantially one half of their length at the back edge of the top and fully covered for substantially the other half of their length at the front edge of the top, the said openings also being of suflicient width to permit of the insertion of the fingers without contact with the edges for removal one by one of the tissue sheets.

KURT WANDEL. 

